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There is only one way to put this. The mods can smack me if they want. You are an idiot and should not have a driver license. You have never made a safe and legal pass on double yellow lines.

Hopefully the next time the truck driver runs you off the road and beats your ass.

AND

§ 3307. No-passing zones.
(a) Establishment and marking.--The department and local authorities may
determine those portions of any highway under their respective jurisdictions
where overtaking and passing or driving on the left side of the roadway would
be especially hazardous and shall by appropriate signs or markings on the
roadway indicate the beginning and end of such zones and when the signs or
markings are in place and clearly visible to an ordinarily observant person
every driver of a vehicle shall obey the directions of the signs or markings.
Signs shall be placed to indicate the beginning and end of each no-passing
zone.

You aren't even able to comprehend what this is saying. Sheesh.

Quoted regulation given above is completely irrelevant because it relates to some other jurisdiction. This incident happened in Ontario. Here is the relevant section of the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario:

Driving to left of centre prohibited under certain conditions
149. (1) No vehicle shall be driven or operated to the left of the centre of a roadway designed for one or more lines of traffic in each direction,
(a) when approaching the crest of a grade or upon a curve in the roadway or within 30 metres of a bridge, viaduct or tunnel where the driver’s view is obstructed within that distance so as to create a potential hazard in the event another vehicle might approach from the opposite direction; or
(b) when approaching within 30 metres of a level railway crossing. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 149 (1).
Exception
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply,
(a) on a highway divided into clearly marked lanes where there are more such lanes for traffic in one direction than in the other direction;
(b) to a road service vehicle where precautions are taken to eliminate the hazard; or
(c) on a highway while it is designated for the use of one-way traffic. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 149 (2).

In this particular situation the exceptions are not applicable. In the applicable s. 149(1), lane markings are not mentioned, only that one is not to drive left of the center of the road approaching the crest of a hill or within 30 metres of specified hazards. It is written this way to allow for gravel roads, paved roads without lane markings (Ontario has a lot of both), and roads with snow covering.

The Civic driver was still in the wrong (obviously) because they were left of centre as they were going over a hill.

Re-iterate for the benefit of the Americans: In Ontario. the center line markings ARE NOT the law. You are quite free to pass over dashed lines or solid lines or double solid lines as long as it is not approaching the crest of a hill or within 30 metres of any of the specified hazards.

It should be noted that at normal traffic speeds the 30 metre distance given is nowhere near adequate, but there is another clause of s. 148:

Passing vehicle going in same direction
(8) No person in charge of a vehicle shall pass or attempt to pass another vehicle going in the same direction on a highway unless the roadway,
(a) in front of and to the left of the vehicle to be passed is safely free from approaching traffic; and
(b) to the left of the vehicle passing or attempting to pass is safely free from overtaking traffic. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 148 (8).

Quoted regulation given above is completely irrelevant because it relates to some other jurisdiction. This incident happened in Ontario. Here is the relevant section of the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario:

The person I quoted said that he was passing legally here in the states but if Ontario is O.K. with you passing in unsafe conditions any motorcyclists would be risking major injuries or death anytime they leave the house.

Re-iterate for the benefit of the Americans: In Ontario. the center line markings ARE NOT the law. You are quite free to pass over dashed lines or solid lines or double solid lines as long as it is not approaching the crest of a hill or within 30 metres of any of the specified hazards.

Kudos to you for knowing the actual law in Ontario. It amazes me how many people just don't know these details.

I've even been approached at a gas station by someone I'd previously overtaken because they were going under the speed limit on a 2-lane road that had a solid yellow dividing line. I told him that the Ontario Highway Traffic Act has nothing in it about the meanings of specific lane markings... it's all just conventions and recommendations. He didn't believe me. I told him to have a nice day.

The person I quoted said that he was passing legally here in the states but if Ontario is O.K. with you passing in unsafe conditions any motorcyclists would be risking major injuries or death anytime they leave the house.

The Ontario Highway Traffic Act is specific about the requirement of passing being done in safety. Actually, the sentences about that are directly preceding the ones GoFaster quoted (section 148).

Just to toss a little kerosene on this fire, word has it the Honda driver was drunk and had made risky passes at high speed prior to this. Other motorists had already phoned them into the police for driving erratically.

Originally Posted by cockerpunk

yes, i am bored by FWD driving dynamics, and anyone who doesn't drive there cars to the limits and the beyond.

It appears to me that the biker had sufficient time to move into the center in which case whatever the car would do it wouldn't likely hit him (such a move is based on principle of lane-splitting which is even easier to perform here in Ontario because of wide lanes). I am not putting blame on the biker but if he was more experienced/skilled/anticipating then the Civic wouldn't end up in a ditch possibly resulting in casualties.

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

And just for the record, I probably would have target fixated just like the guy in the video. I'm aware of my limitations.

How do you both assume that the motorcyclist wasn't actually attempting to evade the collision under the incorrect assumption that the other driver was moving back right? If I see somebody coming at me head on, I would never assume that they were going to go left, I would assume they were going right, AKA back where they belong. There was clearly no time in that video to change that decision once it was obviously wrong.

Just to toss a little kerosene on this fire, word has it the Honda driver was drunk and had made risky passes at high speed prior to this. Other motorists had already phoned them into the police for driving erratically.

Drunk driver swerves to miss motorcycle?
Since when?

"I owe it to myself, and to my choir students, to not be upset about barns."

The only difference if the rider had been driving a car would be the fatalities. Two cars crashing head on like that would result in more dead people than a bike crashing into the car. In fact, if he had been driving a car, that "miss" would had been a hit, offset frontal crash, sending both cars spinning with the passenger on the Civic instantly dead, and maybe involving other cars. The rider/driver would probably die because the car that was being overtaken by the Civic would crash into the driver side of the could be car.

I disagree, the biker had enough time to veer off towards the center when he saw the oncoming car. He should have anticipated situation like this and planned appropriate response in advance instead of freezing like a deer staring at headlights. Of course it wasn't his fault but he could have handled it better.

You are a... Can't find a word suitable for the kind of stupidity you've achieved.

Seemed to happen as he was approaching a really gentle crest. When I was riding, I tried to watch far ahead for just such shenanigans. And I had numerous contact with overtakers in my lane and I just slowed and prepared to pull to the right if they didn't get back in their lane.

I've watched this video several times, and either he is going 100 mph, resulting in no time to react, or the road is cresting a bit where he couldn't see the oncoming passer until it crested.

How fast were the bikes going. They seem to be cooking in the video. Doesn't look like 60 mph to me but who knows?

Edit: Upon further review, I don't think the rider was speeding or going all that fast. Definitely inadequate site distance due to hill crest. REALLY bad spot to pass.

At most I think I would have time to gasp and start closing the throttle. No time for anything else. No turn, no brake, no turtle head, nothing......

Originally Posted by Wheelwright

I disagree, the biker had enough time to veer off towards the center when he saw the oncoming car. He should have anticipated situation like this and planned appropriate response in advance instead of freezing like a deer staring at headlights. Of course it wasn't his fault but he could have handled it better.

I had the opposite happen to me, bike trying to overtake on a bend and was heading straight for me and me missed me by inches.

There is no shortage of idiotic operators of ANY type of vehicle and that includes motorcyclists. And I'm a rider.

Just because someone else is an idiotic operator of doesn't mean EVERY operator of is an idiot.

In a previous post, it had been mentioned that the teenage driver of the Civic in question had already been called in for erratic driving. It was also mentioned that this happened on Airport Road south of Wasaga Beach. This combination is not at all surprising; Wasaga Beach is a popular party destination and Airport Road has a lot of traffic going to and from Wasaga Beach on summer weekends with good weather. It's a pretty good road to stay away from in times like that.

There is no shortage of idiotic operators of ANY type of vehicle and that includes motorcyclists. And I'm a rider.

Just because someone else is an idiotic operator of doesn't mean EVERY operator of is an idiot.

In a previous post, it had been mentioned that the teenage driver of the Civic in question had already been called in for erratic driving. It was also mentioned that this happened on Airport Road south of Wasaga Beach. This combination is not at all surprising; Wasaga Beach is a popular party destination and Airport Road has a lot of traffic going to and from Wasaga Beach on summer weekends with good weather. It's a pretty good road to stay away from in times like that.

How do you both assume that the motorcyclist wasn't actually attempting to evade the collision under the incorrect assumption that the other driver was moving back right? If I see somebody coming at me head on, I would never assume that they were going to go left, I would assume they were going right, AKA back where they belong...

I can think of two main reasons why moving to the middle line would be acceptable as well:

1) the driver just started overtaking so he wouldn't immediately go back into his lane thus giving enough time to slip by him in the middle line

2) the driver wouldn't hit biker head-on in order to get back into his lane because he looks for an opening to pass which is away from other vehicles (including bikes)

I can think of two main reasons why moving to the middle line would be acceptable as well:

1) the driver just started overtaking so he wouldn't immediately go back into his lane thus giving enough time to slip by him in the middle line

2) the driver wouldn't hit biker head-on in order to get back into his lane because he looks for an opening to pass which is away from other vehicles (including bikes)

I am not a biker, any riding instructors can chime in perhaps ?

There is no way that ordinarily you would make an assumption that the wrong-way driver would swerve to the shoulder rather than back into their normal lane. At least 99% of the time, when there is a car over the center line, they will swerve back into their own lane when they see that they shouldn't be in the lane that they're in. You are normally far better ahead by guessing that the driver will do what they normally do 99% of the time than what they could do 1% of the time.

What this means is that the normal reaction upon seeing a car approaching you in the wrong lane up ahead, it is statistically better for you to aim for the right shoulder (thus moving further away from the oncoming traffic) than to go left TOWARDS the oncoming traffic and thus RELYING on the other driver to do the 1%-probability action rather than the 99%-probability action.

It just so happens that in this particular case, the wrong-way driver actually did that 1% move and it was on video.

I have never seen a driver do this (thank God). I cannot count the number of times that I've seen an oncoming car in the wrong lane and they've gone back into their own lane upon seeing oncoming traffic. Swerving towards that oncoming traffic under these circumstances is suicidal.

From this point of view, the motorcyclist's reaction to move towards (but not onto) the shoulder was the statistically correct one (I see nothing wrong with what they did) but they lucked out that the car went even further onto the shoulder.

Keep in mind also that on a road with a gravel shoulder like this, for a motorcycle on normal road tires travelling at highway speed, that gravel shoulder is a no-go zone.

I think that it is raw enough that at 50% of potential, it would be terrifying enough to be fun. One of those 'you never see the tree that is going to kill you because you are sliding into it backwards' kind of cars.